August 2015

For last 10 years as New Orleans has marched back from Katrina, and for many years before that, I’ve spent a lot of time dining out in this luscious exotic American city. My husband John and I are among the thousands of people who live in a Louisiana city other than New Orleans (yes, those exist), making it easy to head to the Crescent City for regular food adventures. From our home in Baton Rouge, New Orleans is just over an hour’s drive, and when you live that close to a city whose culinary scene always reveals something new, you end up there for a lot of milestone birthdays, anniversaries and stolen weekends. After all, the money saved in plane fare is extra dough for food and drink.

But weekends don’t last forever, and choosing where to eat in a city lousy with great restaurants is tough. Sure, it’s hard to make a mistake, but it’s also fun to leave feeling like you’ve done your due diligence. By the time we hit our 15th wedding anniversary this year, John and I had finally perfected the right formula for choosing where to eat.

Given a choice between coleslaw and potato salad, I’d choose the former every time. I love the crunch of the cabbage. I love the range of dressings, from creamy to vinegary. I love to experiment with old-fashioned, church supper versions steeped in mayonnaise-y simplicity, as well as modern takes that incorporate stone fruits or Asian flavors. I love slapping coleslaw on a hot dog or a pulled pork sandwich. And I love when the homemade barbecue sauce on my smoked baby back ribs seeps into the adjacent pile of slaw on my plate.

With Labor Day right around the corner and the fall football season nearly upon us, it’s time to get into a slaw routine. It’s incredibly easy to make at home with fresh ingredients, and a lot cheaper than using packaged cabbage and bottled dressing.

Here’s what’s interesting about Vermont. Farmers markets and farmstands are out in the middle of nowhere sporting the most centerfold-worthy produce you’ve ever seen. There they are, situated along rural roads and byways with no trace of other retail around them holding fruits and veggies so lovely they look like they never wore dirt. Vermont’s farmstands I find particularly intriguing because they’re quiet little gourmet markets at the edge of functioning farms, and God bless ’em, they’re often open seven days a week, (a completely different arrangement than the weekly farmers market many of us enjoy). Here are a few glimpses of Crossroad Farm, a 30-year operation in Post Mills, Vermont. It was a favorite spot of my grandmother’s, who spent her summers in the area. My family and I love visiting here.

Recently, my friend Katy asked if I had any suggestions for healthy snacks for young people. Her high school aged daughter is a dancer, and finding lunchbox and afternoon snacks that offered nutritional value and not just empty calories was a challenge. I’ve got two swimmers and a runner in my household, and now that school has resumed, I’ve been asking myself the same question. Truly nutritious snacks take more thought than that oversized box of Sun Chips from Costco, and it’s not easy when you’re operating at break-neck, back-to-school speed.

For advice, I shot an email to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, an international leader in nutritional research and a sometimes overlooked local resource here in Baton Rouge. In addition to ground-breaking metabolic research, Pennington also has lots of easy recipes and healthy eating tips. PBRC staff members Alisha Prather and Stephanie Malin fired back a list of kid-tested snacks that don’t require a ton of ingredients.

Shrimp are harvested from March to December in Louisiana, and one of the enduring ways to savor them (despite the calories) is fried.

What’s the right way to fry shrimp? Ask anyone with ties to the Gulf South, and brace yourself for strong opinions. Timing and temperature are an issue. You shouldn’t overcook the shrimp, yet the oil has to be hot enough so that the brief cook time ensures crisp texture. Then there’s breading and seasoning. What’s in the wet better? What’s in the dry batter? How much salt, pepper and other spices do you add to flavor the shrimp without overshadowing its delicate profile?

Before the summer slips completely away and we return to back-to-school order and discipline, I’d like to share my dad’s tried-and-true formula for decadent, deep-fried Gulf shrimp, something my family and I savored this past weekend.

When you start seeing okra in local groceries or farmers markets here in South Louisiana, you know the summer harvest is petering out. Only the hardiest crops – okra, eggplant and peppers – hang around in Louisiana’s unique brand of oppressive August heat. Okra, in particular, seems to close out the summer, the last blast of freshness until the fall harvest emerges.

So how to put okra to good use? Sure, fried is classic and absolutely delicious. Stewed down with tomatoes is an essential part of the Louisiana culinary roster. Pickled appeals to the masses and is perfect with charcuterie or a Bloody Mary. But for everyday enjoyment, there is no tastier, healthier, faster or easier way to prepare okra than by roasting it in a hot oven. Thanks to my pal, the author and radio host, Poppy Tooker, for recommending this to me a few years ago over lunch.